By Sunny Simon
The other night while watching TV my husband fell asleep. After gently prying the remote control out of his hand, I decided to do some channel surfing. Before long I landed on a sitcom and where a wild-eyed blonde woman was standing with a hair dryer in one hand, maneuvering her electric tooth brush with the other and attempting to shove one leg into her skinny jeans. While the TV audience howled I stood frozen unable to utter a single giggle. Why? Well it wasn’t too long ago I caught myself unsuccessfully attempting to accomplish three things at once. The problem is I know better. I teach time management and ask my clients to firmly commit to “mono-tasking.”
Research supports the theory that multitasking can be harmful to your health. Do not be fooled, multitasking is really not a time saver because realistically, there is no such thing attacking two or more tasks simultaneously. The only true multitasking takes place when one act is auto-pilot passive. For example, it is possible to listen to rock music while whipping up a soufflé.
Conversely, what actually happens when you are typing an email while chatting on the phone with a friend is a rapid shift between two tasks. In his book, “The Myth of Multitasking,” author and business coach David Crenshaw explains a concept called “switchtasking” which is toggling back and forth between two tasks.
There are consequences to what we think of as multitasking. If you are focusing on my article and not merely scanning it as you check your texts and order a latte, accept this cold, hard truth. When you attempt to perform more than one task simultaneously, your error rate increases along with your stress level. Additionally, if you were to complete a singular task, time would be saved rather than squandered.
Mono-tasking is the “new age” productivity. According to Urban Dictionary, “the performance by an individual of one task, and only one task, at a point in time is called mono-tasking.” UD further states, “It can be more productive than multitasking as it allows an individual to put all their attention and focus on the task at hand.”
I agree. And that sitcom I was watching eventually had me convulsing in a fit of giggles. The blonde protagonist lost her balance halfway into her skinny jeans, tumbled making a soft landing onto her bed as her hairdryer went flying and electric toothbrush became entangled in her flaxen curls. I silently thanked her for proving my point.
Sunny Simon is the owner of Raise the Bar High Life and Career Coaching. More about Sunny at www.raisethebarhigh.com
